Randall Beach: Year 3: Less stuff, more joy for others

2of3Randall Beach at his desk at the New Haven Register with some of the comic books and Howdy Doody towels he did not sell.Photo: Catherine Avalone / Hearst Connecticut Media

3of3Columnist Randall Beach displays a funky but unnecessary souvenir he donated to Goodwill as part of his daily New Year’s resolution.Photo: Contributed photo - Jennifer Kaylin

The third year of “the joy project” is now nearing completion in my household, so the Greater New Haven community has the benefit of some of my King Kong and Frankenstein books, my bicycle, a nifty statue of Santa Claus, plus so much more.

In January 2017, when my wife and I entered into a mutual agreement to donate one item each and every day (except when we’re away on vacation), we had no idea we could make it this far. And we’re tentatively on course to take it into year four.

It’s not always easy but it feels good. A nice hobby! Every few days we rummage through a closet or a bookshelf or desk and pull out some things we are no longer using but which somebody out there might find useful or enjoyable.

The idea came to us from Marie Kondo, author of “The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up: The Japanese Art of Decluttering and Organizing.” She said if we have something that doesn’t give us joy, we should pass it on to somebody else in the hope it will give that person joy.

Sometimes, especially if you keep at this for years, you will find yourself giving away something it hurts to see depart. In those cases, your spouse can help motivate you to follow through.

The Santa statue is a prime example. It was big, about four feet tall, and quite colorful. I won it at a Boxing Day party in my neighborhood. That’s the tradition, popularized in England, of bringing a tacky gift to a party and exchanging it for somebody else’s tacky gift that you might actually like.

Yes, I liked that Santa! My wife hated it. Every December I pulled it out for display on our mantelpiece above our fireplace and every time we had an argument about its beauty or ugliness.

Last January, after another argument and then a month of display, I gave it up in the name of domestic harmony. Off to Goodwill in Hamden went my beloved Santa. My wife cheered.

Somewhere it is on display this December. Enjoy it! Joy to the world!

Last January also saw me offloading a couple of my Frankenstein books: “In Search of Frankenstein” and “Mary Shelley’s Monster.” I’ve still got the original novel. I don’t need the others. The same holds true for my many books about the movie “King Kong.” I got rid of one of them, kept the others and kept the DVD.

I also got rid of a Richard M. Nixon book. But I retain plenty of “Tricky Dick” volumes. One day most of them will go, too. But not just yet.

Last year I also began donating some of the classic books from my collection: D.H. Lawrence’s “Lady Chatterley’s Lover,” Garrison Keillor’s “Lake Wobegon Days,” F. Scott Fitzgerald’s “The Great Gatsby,” and Tom Robbins’ “Even Cowgirls Get the Blues.” I’m not going to read them again; let somebody else get the chance.

I also came across “101 Reasons to Hate George Steinbrenner,” which is quite outdated, and “101 Reasons to Love the Yankees,” which remains relevant but was no longer in use. Both got the heave-ho. So did “The Ronald Reagan Quote Book.” It was like that Nixon book, not getting much attention anymore.

Where do I take my “joy project” books? Often I deposit them in one of the Little Free Library boxes in my neighborhood. Others go to Books & Company in Hamden or the Book Trader in New Haven. I might get back a few bucks from the Book Trader if the books are considered worth re-selling. And if they don’t like them, I know they will pass them along to New Haven Reads.

But there was one book I decided to simply recycle with my newspapers: a book of dirty jokes from the collection of trickster and clown Hy Katz, who died earlier this year. It was a funny touch, handing a book from his vast collection of dirty jokes to everybody at his funeral. But let’s face it, many people would find some of them in poor taste, even offensive. You’ve got to be careful about this.

In February my wife and I cleaned out an upstairs games closet. There sat “Monopoly” and “Risk,” which we hadn’t played in more than a decade. And so off they went, to somebody who, we hope, is now playing those classic games with family members.

Over the past year I cleaned out my desk at home and spied a Three Stooges ink stamper. I couldn’t recall using it in recent history. My wife cheered my donation of that item, too.

The DVD movie collection also took a hit. I was no longer doing repeat viewings of “No Country for Old Men,” “Being John Malkovich” or “Balto.” There was also one of the terrible re-makes of “King Kong.” I took them all to Best Video in Hamden.

Did you know you can now recycle your used paint cans at many paint stores? I took a bunch of them to a store over the past year. Was I giving “joy” to somebody? Well, I was helping the planet by not just tossing them in my garbage.

Here was a tough decision I made last June: what about my bicycle? I hadn’t been on it for years, as my wife kept reminding me. I get my exercise by running and I’m sorry to admit I don’t feel safe riding a bike in New Haven because of the many motorists who don’t see bicyclists or want to run them off the road where there aren’t bike lanes. I had to acknowledge the bike could be used by a young person or adult somewhere else around here. And so that’s what I now picture: somebody riding my bike instead of it continuing to sit unused and unappreciated in my garage.

Yes, and in my basement I found a dusty dollhouse and some Legos. They’re off to a kid who will appreciate such things.

Occasionally one of our soup kitchens gets something from me, too. When my brother’s tailgate for the Yale-Harvard game had plenty of unused food, I didn’t throw it into the trash.

I’ve made it as far as Dec. 18 and can see the finish line. But my wife is ahead of me, now into Jan. 5 of next year. I have again suggested that next year we might consider make this an every-other-month or every-other-day deal. I’m running out of things I want to give away!

But she keeps reminding me: some day we will have to downsize. This is just a head start.

Randall Beach covers New Haven Superior Court cases and writes columns twice a week on human interest topics. He also writes the "Beachcombing" column for Connecticut magazine. He enjoys running, rock and country music and local history.